Mesh Resolution Effects in Simulating Unsteady Sheet Cavitation

Journal article, 2013

We present simulations of the cavitating flow on a NACA0015 hydrofoil in homogeneous and constant inflow. The simulations are performed using an incompressible implicit LES methodology with cavitation modelling based on a one-fluid mixture approach combined with a transport equation modelling including source terms for the mass transfer between the phases. We compare the flow development and spectral content of lift oscillations with experimental results from the literature. The study shows that a good qualitative as well as quantitative agreement is possible but requires a high mesh resolution, primarily in the wall normal direction, to avoid spurious cavitation dynamics in the simulated flow.